A Pirate Story
by Kaahau
Summary: Mai Taniyama's whole world spirals out of control once she meets a certain tall and handsome Narcissist who whisks her away from her world on an adventurous journey that changes her life.
1. Chapter 1: Ghosts and Ghost Stories

The blazing sun had started the wretched day but slowly the clouds started covering the blue sky until it was dark enough to mistake the day for night. A young man with dark hair stood on deck of a great ship staring grimly over the horizon. His mood darkened as more time passed and he finally sighed in defeat. Turning he signaled for the crew to pull the ship over to the closest port. He watched as his hired men started climbing the masts and riggings to catch the flying sails.

A strong gust of wind blew his hat off and he bent to pick it up. As he did his eyes caught sight of the thick fog surrounding the ship. Great. Thing can't get any worse, he thought.

...

"And then the woman led the guard through the dark backyard until they reached a privy. Once there the man told her to go back inside and wait to see if she could hear the voice again. And she did just as she was told. 'Do you want me to cover you with a red coat?' She answered 'Y-yes.' And then screamed! The guard burst through the door and found the woman covered in blood as if she had a red coat draped over her."

She smiled and blew her candle, plunging the already dark room into more darkness. Now only Michiru's and the ghost light remained. She glanced at Kieko to see her eyes wide and fearful and a small twinge of sympathy perked in her chest before her eyes found Michiru again. Michiru's long dark slipped from behind her ear and framed her face as she bent her head more toward the candle.

"Okay, this one is about the schoolhouse," she began. The brunette cringed at the mention of the abandoned and rickety place at the outskirts of the town. Rumor had it that it was built by a kind rich man who was very fond of children but had unfortunately died of some unknown disease after which the school went through many owners until it was deserted entirely. It didn't matter too much to anyone since there was another school building where all of the townsfolk sent their children. It was left alone for a while until all the accidents started happening there catching the town's interest.

"Do you mean that creepy building on the outskirts that's collapsing?" Keiko asked.

Michiru nodded before continuing, "It's not collapsing, it is actually cursed." Cursed? It's said that the last owner of that place commited suicide because he saw the ghost of his dead wife who was haunting him. After that any and all attempts at removing the school house have been unsuccessful. Twice they have tried to bring down the building but accidents would occurs so that the process was disrupted. I even heard that a group walking by was suddenly hit by an ownerless carriage, the horses running around wildly. There's more, I have heard that a lady passing by to get to the hospital saw a ghost peering at her fro inside the building when she glanced at it." By this time Mai and Keiko were utterly terrified. Adrenaline coursed through her as Michiru blew her candle and said, "One."

"Two," said Keiko shakily.

"Three" replied an uneasy Mai.

"Four," said a masculine voice. All three screamed simultaneously as Keiko jumped from her chair and grabbed Mai's neck who was too busy screaming her head off. The lights flickered on and they turned to see a figure dressed in black.

The girls all gave a sigh of relief with Mai collapsing into her chair. Michiru stood and said, "Oh please tell me that was you just now!" while Mai worked on catching her breath. The disembodied voice which was actually not disembodied had spooked Mai.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked while Mai noticed his attire which consisted of everything black from the hat down to his boots.

"I thought for sure it was a ghost!" Keiko interrupted, falling back to her seat in a very unladylike manner. Snapping her gaze back to the man she observed him more closely and was surprised to see a pale and young looking fellow with cobalt blue eyes and a blank face staring at them. To Mai he seemed really thin and exhausted but his stiff posture kept her from approaching him.

The brunette started rubbing her neck as the man started talking again. "Sorry, I didn't expect anyone to be here, but then I heard your voices and I couldn't help myself." He turned to them with a smile, which Mai noticed with suspicion and curiosity didn't seem to reach his eyes. Michiru and Keiko didn't seem to notice though and started crowding him with questions one of which was about his name which Mai managed to catch was Kazuya Shibuya.

Mai sighed and interrupted through their chatter, "Okay, Kazuya. I have one question. What are you doing here?"

His blue gaze flicked toward her and he replied, "That is what I should be asking you." Mai started confusedly at him until he sighed and said, "I rented this room from the innkeeper."

Mai stared at him shock, for a moment not comprehending his words. She turned to her friends to see a similar reaction on their faces. This whole floor was banned for all guests so she didn't understand how the innkeeper let him stay.

"She let you buy this room?" She asked him cautiously and saw a flicker of some emotion that she didn't understand in his eyes as she asked him.

"Yes, after much reasoning and compromises she allowed us to have this floor and warned us to stay from the last room on the right and lock our doors firmly at night although she didn't say why. Do you ladies know why?"

Keiko and Michiru glanced worriedly at Mai who stood stiff and pale, clutching her dress in a tight fist. It wasn't there secret to tell so they would let Mai choose to tell him or ot.

Kazuya sensing the unease let the matter drop mercifully and exchanged some small talk, all the while Mai stood in the back holding her breath and when the time came to say goodbye she let out the breath she had been holding and was the first one out of the room, not quite catching up to what was being said and not realizing the word "us" when he talked about rented. Her mind was so occupied that she didn't even notice the tall man with a black fringe walking past her with a scowl on his face.


	2. Chapter 2: Strangers and Birds

The chirping of the birds outside her window wasn't woke her up today like it always did. This time it was the nightmare that she had long forgotten and hoped she would never remember. She had bolted upright in the bed, frantically looking around for a sign of fire and hadn't found anything. When she had calmed down enough, she slumped back into her pillow sighing loudly. Her sweat-soaked locks sticked to her forehead and she moved them back behind her ear.

After laying down for a while and staring into space she decided that getting up early to finish her days chores was better than falling asleep and having a nightmare again, so she got up and quickly got dressed. She braided her hair and glanced into the cracked mirror in the back of her small room. Her face looked paler than yesterday and her usually bright cinnamon eyes held a touch of distress. _It's not the time to look gloomy._ She pinched her cheeks and tried to produce a big smile that would light up her eyes. _Yes, let's do it._

She rushed out the door and straight into the kitchen where she saw yesternight dishes laying in the corner, waiting to be washed. She rolled up her sleeves and went straight to work. After washing the dishes she dusted the kitchen, the dining area and the hall, until the floor and furniture looked shiny. Then she kneaded the dough put it in the brick oven and started cutting up the vegetables for the day's meals and still nobody had woken up. After finishing up all that she walked out the backdoor to do the laundry that had been piling up for a few days.

She dipped her hand into the water to test out the temperature and yelped at the ice cold water.

"It isn't even fall." she grumbled.

She quickly dropped the clothes in and put in the powder soap and started rubbing them on the board. After washing them she took them to hang on the wire connecting the trees together. She hung the linens first, careful not to drop them to the muddy ground, then went on to hang other articles of clothing. _Now I only had to feed the barn animals and get the breakfast ready._

She sighed and reached her arms above her head to stretch her back and thought of taking a break. Finding a dry patch under the narrow roof outside of the shed, she sat down, careful not to get her skirts dirty. She leaned back against the wall and watched the sun coming up from the horizon. The silence of the early morning was peaceful and soothing and Mai found herself being lulled into sleep.

…

He was just getting dressed when he heard shuffling coming from downstairs. Curious, he swiftly put on his coat and boot and followed the sound only to find the brunette from yesterday moving around the ground floor. _Why is she up so early in the morning?_ He had been told yesterday that she was the Innkeepers niece and worked for her in exchange for housing and food. He watched her leave outside with a huge bundle of clothes and followed her outside.

For some reason her reaction yesterday had caused him to wonder what was actually in the last room. He hadn't heard any sound coming from it yesterday but something told him there was a living person in there. The thought of going in there had crossed his mind but he had quickly rejected that idea because the Innkeeper seemed really intent on keeping them out and going against her wishes didn't seem like much of a good idea when all other inns seemed to have been occupied due to the heavy rain.

A loud sigh broke through his throat as he saw the short girl stretch and make her way to the shed where she sat and leaned her head against the wall. He went closer and observed her as she snored lightly, her disheveled locks falling into her face. The girl was short even for average but her long brown hair making up for her height. He had noticed yesternight how she held herself with an air of control. Now as he looked at her he was reminded of her huge cinnamon eyes that held so much pain yesterday. Yesterday, when he laid his eyes on her she had seemed very familiar but he couldn't put his finger on how she looked familiar.

The girl shifted in her sleep and he stepped back in a hurry, promptly setting his foot on a branch that he was quite sure hadn't been there before. He glanced back at the brunette as he saw her eyes flutter open.

…

The first thing she saw upon waking up was blue, ice cold blue. She held that blue gaze for a few moments before realizing it was the stranger from yesterday. The stranger was standing awkwardly near her, half of his body turned in the opposite direction and Mai briefly wondered what he had been doing there.

Realizing that she had been staring at him for a good few minutes she blushed and quickly scrambled up brushing off the dirt from her skirts and facing him.

"Ummmm….." She started awkwardly while the blue-eyed gentleman just stared blankly at her face.

She tried again, "I'm sorry, but may I ask what are you doing here?" She clamped her mouth shut after the words tumbled out of her mouth.

The stranger just raised his eyebrows at her and she blushed even deeped if that was possible.

"I was taking a walk." He replied shortly.

She nodded and an awkward silence ensued between them. Mai tried to break the ice. "I think we should get going. It almost breakfast time."

She was replied with a curt nod and then both youngsters walked side by side toward the Inn that sat a few meters ahead. The chirping of the birds held Mai's attention as she tried to guess from which tree the sound was coming from, all the while the stranger observed her from the corner of his eyes. A mix of curiosity and amusement lit his eyes as he watched the brunette swing her head to the sides, trying to listen to the early morning birds. Mai smiled lightly at the memory of the same game but with more people and they would compete to find the bird. _Those had been some days_ , she thought fondly.

But all too soon for the liking of both they reached the inn and Mai separated herself to go to the kitchen where she saw her aunt stirring something in a large pot. With the thought of the stranger and birds all gone from her head she greeted her aunt cheerfully.

"Good Morning, Kanako-san" she greeted and was replied with a bright smile and a Good Morning in return.

Mai's mood brightened at the older lady's smile. Kanako-san had been quite stressed these past couple of weeks because some ragtags had been frequently occupying the inn and misbehaving with the other customers, resulting in more than a few customer complaints. But Kanako had talked to the neighbors and guards to keep an eye on the unwelcome company and they had mostly left them alone for a few days and there was news to be heard of them.

Mai hesitated before starting the conversation again, unsure of herself. She didn't want to leave her aunt alone at the inn but she had promised Michiru and Keiko weeks before to a trip into the town square where three had planned the shopping of some new clothes since the season was getting more chilly. The girls had decided to stop at a tea shop and later collect groceries for their residents and then get home just in time for lunch. She had finished almost all her day's chores and had been hoping that her aunt would allow her to go.

"Kanako-san?"

"Hmmmmm?" She got the reply

"Is is okay if i go to the town square today with Keiko and Michiru, after the breakfast is over and I feed the animals?" She asked timidly. Her aunt was a really kind and generous lady but she didn't want to take advantage of her nice attitude and had strictly trained herself to be a helper for her and now just couldn't put down her employee tendencies.

Kanako Mayu turned to face the cinnamon-eyed girl and smiled softly her and replies, "Of course, Dear and you don't have to worry about the barn, I will take care of it. You go and enjoy yourself today, okay?"

"Yes!" Mai exclaimed, smiling widely. Nothing could stop the smile that stretched across the girls face and lighted up her eyes.

…

Author's Note:

I ams till not entirely familiar with the posting of chapter and stuff so forgive me if I make any mistakes and I expect that you all already know that I don't own any characters from ghost hunt other than Kanako-chan at the moment.

Let me know if you if you have any suggestion. Will try to look into any errors or requests. Posting of chapters might get delayed in the next two week so please be patient.

Also, I feel as if I am rushing the characters too much and smudging their personalities in the process, if anybody has any thought to share about thi statement, please let me know.

Thank and goodbye until next time.


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